AN: Welcome to another chapter! For those wondering, I tend not to use too much japanese translations, just cause it feels weird to incorporate two different languages. I do use them though, but only when it feels appropriate, cool, or if I feel like off the top of my head.
See you after the jump!
His name was Naruto Uzumaki. A nobody. No one knew him, no one cared. His origins was one steeped in mystery, his past unknown even among the records. Only one man knew of his lineage; a withered old man, worn out by war and strife and the smoke of battle.
Known as the Third Hokage to the citizens of Konoha, his will was supposed to be law, his power infinite within the confines of the village walls. Hiruzen Sarutobi was once known as the God of Shinobi, a formidable foe to say the least. But his time was long past, and politics did what no enemy ninja ever could have done - laid him low and at the mercy of others. He became a figurehead, the real power belonging to the village council. After the heroic death of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, Hiruzen had no choice but to re-assume the mantle of the Third.
Six years have passed since that day, the day that the Third, sensei to the Fourth, had to become the Hokage again, the day that the Kyuubi, a mystical beast of mythical proportions was defeated and, due to the Fourth's sacrifice, was sealed into the body of a newborn child.
It seemed the world had passed him by, and it was all he could do to survive as the puppet Hokage, much less protect the boy who had already given so much to Konoha. Sarutobi, at the wizened age of 68, had long given up hope that the ignorant, selfish people that populated the world could change; he could only hope Naruto leaned early enough to escape from Konoha.
The birds flew overhead, chirping loudly, signaling the dawn of yet another day in Konoha. The people of the village continued with their daily activities, unaware of the small, sleeping form of a six-year old boy wearing an orange jumpsuit two sizes too big for him.
"Ughhhh..." Naruto awoke, looking around the small, decrepit alleyway, memories of the beatings he had the night before still fresh in his mind. He sat up, wondering for a moment whether life decided to give him a break and send him up to Heaven.
No chance of that happening.
With a groan, the street urchin stood up, stretching his sore muscles. He had no home, and was simply one among the many homeless children that lived on the street. He had learned long ago that the village had it's foundations laid in deceit. He had heard on more than one occasion that Konoha was touted as the village with the lowest crime rate in all the Great Countries.
Yeah right.
Right here in the red light district, vices were considered a daily routine. Thefts were just harder to prove. Murders even more so. It also didn't help that most of the people around here were nobodies, and should they be murdered, would not warrant even a simple investigation.
A rock hit Naruto's head, causing him to yelp in pain and jolting him back to his senses.
"There's the fucker who tried to steal my bread! Get him boys!" The man with the mustache pointed at him, signaling to his accomplices to commence another beating.
This wasn't a new way to wake up.
With a burst of speed borne out of fear, the boy slipped through the men, making use of his petite size to escape under their very noses. The blonde ran recklessly through the streets, never looking back, his little heart pounding. A right turn here, a left turn there, Naruto just kept running and running. Just as Naruto's little heart threatened to explode, his sharp eyes picked out an inconspicuous hole by the street side. Mustering his last ounce of strength, he dove into it, squeezing his way inside. Suffice to say the hole was tight.
A minute passed. Two minutes passed. Naruto watched from his hole as the men passed, brandishing knives and stakes, searching without success for the slippery blonde.
"Oi, where did the DEMON go!" A lanky thug exclaimed.
Naruto winced at this. He had been called a demon as far back as he could remember, though he naturally did not understand why such a term was used to describe him.
"Rrrrrgg... Spread out! He's not getting away this time!" Another thug called out.
The mob passed, and after waiting a few minutes to make sure he was no longer in danger of being caught, Naruto crawled out, stretching. The feeling of fear ebbed away, taking with it the last of the leftover adrenaline. For the first time since he was awake, he was aware of his surroundings; the sun was high in the sky, but he seemed to have run far from his usual haunts. Not a soul could be seen, and Naruto, finally realizing where he was, broke out into cold sweat. Fear was a fickle thing when your name was Naruto Uzumaki; one moment you thought you were safe, the next you knew you were doomed.
He was in gang territory.
Here not only civilians, but shinobi participated in gang fights that frequently left many dead or dying. Blood stains adorned the the pavements of the street, and Naruto saw more of the red liquid smeared on the cracked cement walls that rose to either side of him. The half-rotted bodies of past victims attested to the level of violence of the fights, and part of Naruto wanted to retch at the sight. What irked him was the fact that the bodies weren't even given a proper burial.
"THERE'S THE DEMON! GET HIM FOOLS!" A shout rang out.
Naruto tried to run again, but this time he was surrounded. The konoha headbands so revered as a sign of loyalty to the village was defaced and worn proudly by the gang members that had cornered him, a snarling wolf painted over the leaf symbol. With trepidation, Naruto recognized the thugs from the gang known as 'Beast'.
"P-please! I beg you don't kill me! I've done nothing to you, I just want to li- AAAGHH!" Naruto wailed in pain as a particularly muscular civilian slashed him on his arm.
Naruto whimpered, scooting back while trying his best to put as much distance between him and the men. Their murderous looks left little to the imagination of what they would do to him, and his chances of him escaping was rapidly diminishing by the second. Cradling his injured arm, Naruto mustered all of his remaining strength and decided on his route to escape, perhaps the only thing he could actually do. The plan: run like a dog.
With a feral scream, Naruto shot up and ran In the opposite direction, and for a moment he actually thought he caught his captors by surprise. Seizing upon the perceived opportunity, Naruto charged forward.
To his dismay he felt an arm wrap around the scruff of his neck, bringing his movement to a sudden halt. The offending appendage belonged to a wiry man whose chakra enhanced strength gave him away as a shinobi.
'fuck my life', Naruto lamented, 'at least my pain will stop when I die. But knowing my luck...'
Before he could finish the thought, the ninja brandished his kunai, one arm still holding up the choking boy.
"You know, you don't deserve to live..." the wiry man whispered in Naruto's ear, "They should have killed you long ago, they should have left you to the wolves... I will complete what should have been done long ago; I will kill the accursed Demon container..."
"W-why are you d-doing this to me, I-I've never hur- URK!", Naruto choked as the man tightened his grip.
"You will never understand, you CANNOT understand... You are just a boy- a baby- after all. But you hold the demon, and that is unforgivable. You are as much a stain on humanity as you are a stain on Konoha. I will tell you this: you were destined to be sacrificed, but the Elders were too cowardly, too human, to kill a newborn. Blame them for your current predicament; because you lived on, you experienced a short life of hatred and loneliness. But it is not you I hate, it is the THING inside you. To kill it, I must kill you. It does not matter how Inhumane it might seem to you; I am a shinobi, and as such I have sacrificed my humanity and dedicated my life to the dealing of death. Hear this Uzumaki Naruto, and remember it in the afterlife. I do not regret sacrificing you, a mere six-year old, for it is for the greater good of humanity and shinobi alike."
Done with his explanation, the chuunin released his hold on Naruto, whose face was sporting a bluish tint from lack of oxygen. No sooner had he done that, did Naruto experience white-hot pain, and then a dull throbbing in his right arm. Glancing to his right, he managed to glimpse the bloodied, amputated stump that was now his arm.
Despite this, he refused to scream.
"Let us begin our work...", the shinobi murmured.
The entire gang of felons and shinobi set upon Naruto like a pack of wolves cornering their prey, butchering him with their knives, beating him with their clubs. It almost seemed as though they were taking out the pain and suffering they felt from losing their loved ones on him. Naruto did not see satisfaction in the faces of the men who butchered him, only cries of anger and expressions of rage.
It felt like an eternity, and by the time they were done, Naruto, now simply a torso with a head looked weakly around, his amputated limbs strewn around in a grotesque manner.
'Why am I still alive', he thought.
As the gang shuffled away, their rage spent, until only the ninja who caught him remained.
"To your credit, not once did you scream out in pain... You might have been a good shinobi. But this is goodbye.", he said as he drew his kunai across his throat.
Naruto's last thought was of his parents, parents whose love he never knew.
